TehLlama42_ profile

Curiously auto racing has been dealing with this for a while, especially in the disciplines where women athletes compete on parity with their male counterparts, and in the case of some more equipment dominated tiers of the sport it's not uncommon to see a 'good' woman driver end up posting better results than far more skilled but less photogenic counterparts (for a case study, just see how immensely skilled a driver Sarah Fisher is, and realize that Danica Patrick is the name everybody knows, and it has more to do with her willingness to show up for a cover shoot as comfortably as a centerfold).
Since being able to 'go professional' in most of the extreme sport categories isn't actually directly related to success in feeder series, this is a very real instance where aspiring athletes who don't have the resources or genetics to create funds are effectively losing the opportunity to become professional athletes because the sponsorship money and hardware needed to actually take that shot at the big time are being diverted to high profile athletes that are functionally lifestyle models by occupation.
Athletes already competing at the top level aren't the ones who are getting pushed out by this trend - it's the really talented semi-pro athletes scratching by to make it to support series events that are seeing the funding dry up, because that's the sort of money companies are looking to spend on the rest of the 'family of supported athletes' after their title athletes, and the unfortunate result, as seen in the top levels of motorsport, is that once the financial support from sponsors for the support series and ladder up to the professional level starts to wither, only athletes from well-to-do families, or well-connected within the industry are ever presented with the opportunity to participate at the elite level from a resources standpoint, which absolutely is the wrong direction for a sport built around grassroots support and weekend warriors as the financial base.

Dunno, Bottas @ Mercedes, Button @ Williams, and Wehrlein could take the Williams seat in short order. Would be a good way of achieving maximum driver development for Lance Stroll, and they'd have the opportunity to pick up Wehrlein later.

Alternative, Bottas to Merc, and Wehrlein/Stroll at Williams.

Still, hard to ignore the possibility of Checo going to Mercedes (only driver with a podium who isn't on a top three team), which would make Force India's best bet running Ocon and Guttierez, or Ocon/Wehrlein [admittedly just an MRT promotion all the way across, but still quite reasonable]

Yeah, but bikes go in between trees. Those hit trees (remember, they're piloted by guys who can't hit anything in other conditions).

The question may be do they want a driver who can challenge Lewis, or do they want a #2 driver?

Does the new driver really want to deal with a head case as a team mate?

Mercedes was bold enough to let them race, and continued to do so despite Spain and Austria this year - I think they'll be content to try and put two very good drivers in there to where they maximize the number of instances where at least one of their drivers will be untouchable for the whole race weekend, barring a mechanical.

I don't there is an F1 driver around who would turn down having a teammate they potentially take issue with (again, the teammate is the biggest opponent) in order to have a seat in the fastest car of the season.

RB-11 will be the closest car, as the 2017 formula will probably be an aero efficiency formula instead of power like 2014. Daniel and Max will likely be quite content, although I wouldn't rule out a Verstappen contract buyout. Mercedes picking up Vandoorne would also be surprisingly logical, as would picking up Checo from Force India (although if Ferrari has a tough year, he'll be faster in the Force India than Vettel or Kimi).

I've been toying around the the idea of trying to make a Guide RSC-E brake set.

Basically get a set of Guide-RSC's - to get the swinglink an contact point adjustment onto the levers
and a set of Guide-RE's - to get the CODE calipers. Would have to do a swaperoo and bleed, but then….

I'd have the poor man's Guide-Code-Blackbox brake voodoo that most of the SRAM sponsored gravity athletes run, and my byproduct from all this is a set of perfectly acceptable Guide R's with RE graphics on the levers (perfect for my hardtail).

About the only things keeping me from doing this is the fact that I really liked the Saint brakes on RockyMtn's Full-Bling Demo Slayer
- the fact that the Saints are cheaper unless I assume I need another set of brakes for my hardtail
- and the pile of XT/SLX brake pads I already have stockpiled for brakes that seem to be working perfectly adequately for me [ETA - my current SLX brakes are workinf fine].

Yeah, that just blew the whole driver market wide open.

Wonder if the delay is so that they can see of Werhlien can make the cut, or just because they'll have their choice of anybody they want.

Am I the only one who thinks Abu Dhabi was the third time RBR totally missed on the strategy call for Ricciardo? Throwing away the whole strategic advantage to 'maybe' undercut Kimi was a poor idea, and Max did demonstrate how good the RB-X was on the prime tire, so I'm filing that away as another poor strategy call that realistically cost him a podium.

Ricciardo was the only driver more consistent than Rosberg, and I'd put Checo and Grosjean into the running for impressive drives over the year - but Nico put it all together, drove clean races from whichever position he was in (except Austria), and even the bad races (Monaco) still put together a points finish.
I still think the Haas/Grosjean run in the first few races was phenomenal for the sport, and Force India is still my favorite team particularly after conclusively demonstrating that they could build a faster car than the rest of the pack on half the budget is just amazing.
To me the real questions of next year is if Mercedes can build too big an advantage in pre-season testing, or if RBR can stay in touch then it'll be down to whether Daniel or Max can get a better handle on the new cars - looking forward to even the possibility of those two fighting it out for wins if they can snooker Mercedes on strategy.

Why don't you start a thread about Formula E if you wanna talk about it? This thread is about Formula 1, the best cars [HTML_REMOVED] drivers on the planet. The drivers in Formula E are not the best drivers, that's why they are there.

Put Lucas di Grassi in a Le Mans prototype and he's fast, though the reference point for that is Nico Hulkenberg's unprecedented success in the third 919. There's not that much in it at the top level, and if Formula 1 ever fins itself being more fuel economy limited, it might become a viable feeder series, instead of a pasture for drivers with either a bit less skill, or in the case of the top guys, no eight figure backers to buy them a seat in a mid pack team.

This next year is likely to be all about who the better engineering interfacing drivers are with the new tires and aero package. That puts Seb and both Nicos in better positions than they would be otherwise, but leaves me worrying for outfits like Williams [nothing against Valtteri, but his strengths as a driver are elsewhere]. Adrian Newey's participation will make Red Bull a real contender, so that's why in my mind the teams that will benefit most with the 2017 changes are Mercedes, Renault, Red Bull, and to a lesser extent Ferrari

The 29er versions run 10mm less travel font and rear for the Range 170/160mm for 650b and 160/150mm 29er; I forget the Sight but I think it follows the same formula 150/140mm 650b and 140/130mm 29er. I wouldn't bet on the Range being too racked out either… from what I recall the HA was slightly steeper for the 29er, between 0.5-1 degrees… they'll be having demo days from what I heard last and you can actually ride the bike before coming to a conclusion…

Also, depending on the size, it'll be released at different times; pretty sure that earliest is January/Feb for the Med/Large then XL and last release is the small size. Forget dates.

This all makes entirely too much sense. I'd probably be buying a 29er range sight unseen, but if the 'whatever it takes to make an acceptable but cheap' build in the carbon frame line comes with a 160mm Yari, and other clyde friendly kit in XL, I'll be all over that.

A SuperDeluxe/Yari/Reverb/GX/Guide build should fit the bill there.

I'm really unsure if I'm more excited about that the Model III means for commuting, or if the first BMW i3/i8 derived drivetrain showing up in a somewhat sporty Hyundai is going to be the tipping point.

On-demand torque is just such a fun thing, but for highway use a small turbocharged ICE is just unbeatable for energy density.

Anyone follow Formula E? A couple of ex F1 guys in there. Kind of the way of the future. Take that Middle East(and Texard [HTML_REMOVED] Albertard.)

I do, even got to watch the Long Beach ePrix the first year. Genuinely entertaining, and that is the growth opportunity for the FIA if they manage it well.

Passing is still hard (basically once they're in top gear, the drag and max power draw functions as a soft limiter).

What I do want to see with Formula E is a longer race format, where you have to finish in the car you started in, with a 30% longer race. Two pit stops, battery recharging technology ends up in the fore, and there would be a LOT more strategic diversity (push hard early until the tires get over temperature, then run consistently from the front in clean air for two stints // go deep in the first run and be overtaking with some stretches of clean track // middle of the road optimal using power and pace to overtake those on strategy 1 without getting caught out and overtaken by the ones on strat 2)